Fake trend + women doing things = WSJ story about 'manicure meetings'

First, there was the tweet from @wsj: 

Manicure meetings: some professional women are opting to network over nails instead of over lunch. 

Then, the story with *hilarious* headline, "Idea to file away: manicure meetings".

Oh, and the equally puntastic lede:

In three decades of networking for her career, Mardy Sitzer never managed to polish her golf game. But she has found an alternative: networking over polish. 

There's much about this story that bothers me - not least the fact that professional women network is considered 'newsworthy' - and what bothers me about it most is this paragraph:

It's a departure from the traditional image of clubby executives back-slapping on the back nine, yet manicure meetings offer the same sort of camaraderie found on manicured greens.  

Consider the subtext for a moment: women networking - regardless of where - is a departure from the idea that only men do this.

"Yet" - why is there a yet? Why is the author so surprised that women can get together and find the "same sort of camaraderie found on manicured greens"?

Despair.